Haunting Vision
by Laid-Back Brit
Summary: As Max and Chloe prepare for Halloween, the young hipster has yet another foreshadowing vision of the tornado that threatens to wipe Arcadia Bay. This one turns out to be a little different from the ones she usually has, but it manages to be just as sinister, playing on the photographer's fears and insecurities, as well as requiring no effort to scare her. One-shot for Halloween.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange.**

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"Booya!" Chloe gazed down at the object she had just finished working on with a wide grin. " An absolute masterpiece! Even if I do say so myself!"

"Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?!" Max smiled with amusement as she folded her arms. "After how you made him look!"

The two best friends were standing in the backyard of the Price household. It was a crisp autumn evening. The light breeze which passed through every now and then took the brown and orange leaves off the trees to make them float down gently to the ground. Both girls' attention was entirely focused on what sat in front of them on the grass. It was a large pumpkin which they had just carved into a Jack-o-Lantern for Halloween. Not only had they used a knife to give it a pair of eyes and a grin – but Chloe had also painted some gear-shapes on its forehead to make it appear as though it had tattoos. She had also glued skull earrings on its sides, wound a spiky-necklace around its base and stuck a half-smoked cigarette out of its mouth. Max was certain there never before anywhere in the world had there been a jack-o-lantern that looked a little like how her blue-haired friend typically appeared.

"Just look at him!" Chloe lifted the pumpkin up and cradled it in her arms, smiling like a proud mother holding her newly-born baby. "Isn't he the most beautiful thing you've even seen?!"

"Only someone who would go to so much effort make him look like herself would say that…"

"You're just jealous because I've just carved the world's first punk pumpkin!"

"Am I really?" The brunette wryly raised an eyebrow. "Well enjoy your fame while it lasts, Miss Price! 'Cause I'll take it all from you when I carve the world's first photographer pumpkin!"

"Dream on, hippie!" Chloe scoffed. "Your photographer pumpkin ain't gonna get anywhere near as world famous as my punk pumpkin!"

"And why, prey, would that be?!"

"'Cause what good is a camera to a pumpkin if he ain't got no arms to use it take pictures?"

Max paused, perusing her lips over the point Chloe had brought up, then smiled. "Touche!"

The best friends burst into laughter, enjoying the banter they often exchanged with one another. Chloe fell backwards, landing into a pile of leaves, causing them to fly up and float down softly all over the garden

"Chloe!" Max exclaimed. "David only just swept those leaves up an hour ago! He'll give off if he finds out you just undid all his work!"

"Ah, don't worry about Stepdouche!" Chloe sat up on the ground, leaves sticking to her blue hair. "He swept these leaves up once! He can do it again!"

Max sighed, shaking her head slowly at the rebellious girl with a smile. She admired how she didn't fear the zealous school security guard who she had to live with day in, day out. All the students at Blackwell Academy only had to put up with him for a few hours a day – and many of them were terrified of his harsh, overbearing nature.

"I just need to go and do something…" Chloe placed the jack-o-lantern in Max's arms before heading towards the sliding doors of the house. "You go hang up Punkin!"

"Punkin?" Max repeated.

"Of course!" Chloe turned to look over her shoulder at her best friend. "My baby needs a name!"

Max giggled, thinking that the name given to the punk pumpkin would only be thought of by his punk mother. She watched as Chloe disappeared into the house. The blue-haired girl closed the sliding door behind her, leaving the young hipster all alone with her baby.

"Okay, Punkin." Max turned the jack-o-lantern around in her hands so she could see its face. "Where are we gonna put you?"

Punkin said nothing.

For a moment, Max stood where she was. She took in the features and accessories Chloe had given the pumpkin to make it look like a punk. The brunette gave a small chuckle before raising her arms. She placed the pumpkin onto the rim of the wooden garden fence to balance it there.

A sudden flash of lightning burs out, causing Max to yell with surprise as she stumbled backwards.

The startled girl fell down hard onto the grass, which had become damp and sodden as rain pelted down heavily. Laying on the ground, she gazed up all around her with wide, alarmed eyes.

It was no longer a peaceful, autumn evening. In the blink of an eye, it had changed into a dark, stormy night.

Such an ominous sight was one which Max was all too familiar with.

"No!" she cried. "Not another vision!"

"Yes, Max! Take in all that you are going to cause!"

A chilling, eerie voice suddenly filled the bleak atmosphere. It caused the hairs on the back of Max's neck to stand. She glanced all around, frantically trying to find who had just said such a guilt-tripping thing to her - but she was all alone in Chloe's back garden.

"Who's there?!" Max yelled, trying to be heard above the storm. "Who said that?"

"Why … I did!"

The sinister voice sounded much closer this time - so much so, whoever it belonged to seemed to be lying on the ground with the girl. Max instantly turned to face whoever was addressing her - and her pale, freckled face went white with horror.

Sitting before her on the wet ground, gazing directly at her with its sly, mischievous grin - was the pumpkin.

"Punkin?" Max exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Yes, Max! I am indeed alive!" There was no doubt in the young girl's mind; the jack-o-lantern was talking to her. As it spoke, its eyes and mouth flashed a bright shade of yellow, as if a candle was flickering inside of it. "But I won't be alive for much longer! None of us in Arcadia Bay will be - thanks to you!"

A shiver ran up Max's spine. The pumpkin had only just started speaking to her and she already knew what it was about to bring up. Terrified, she backed herself away from the living squash plant, crawling backwards along the damp, soaked ground across the yard.

"You can't get away, Max! You can't escape what you are going to cause to the town!"

Max basked herself up as far as the swing set in the garden - but she couldn't tear her frightened expression away from the jack-o-lantern that was speaking to her in a threatening manner. Her blue eyes were filled with terror as they fixed onto the pumpkin - before sensing something in the distance that made her avert her gaze.

The sight of what she saw approaching gave the young photographer even more alarm than the pumpkin ever could.

It was the tornado; the one she had seen destroy Arcadia Bay several times in her visions - which were due to become a reality as a result of her own doings.

"No!" she cried.

"You caused this storm, Max!" the pumpkin continued. "The whole town is going to be wiped out! Thousands of innocent people are going to die - and it will all be your fault!"

Max pressed her hands against her ears, desperately trying to block out the jack-o-lantern's threatening words towards her.

"Who would have ever thought one quiet, introverted girl would cause so much death?" The pumpkin's tone was growing more sinister with every word, filling with venom, as though he was relishing telling Max about her terrible future. "All because she couldn't face the inevitable truth; that her precious friend, Chloe, is supposed to die!"

"No!" Max felt her whole body go cold, not due to the storm, but due to what the Jack-o-Lantern was saying about her lifelong companion. "Chloe is my best friend! I wouldn't let that happen!"

"Oh, I know you wouldn't!" continued the pumpkin. "You've proven that very much! You've used your powers to reverse and manipulate time over and over again to go back in time to keep your beloved punk from death! You just can't face the facts that she should've been dead since the start of this week..."

The wind was growing stronger as the tornado edged closer to the town by the second. It was picking up and swirling lots of shapes around it. Max could just make them out to be wrecked cars, debris from buildings - and dead, mangled bodies.

"Meanwhile, you're perfectly willing to let innocent people who have done nothing wrong die!"

"No!"

"They won't even live to celebrate Halloween! At the end of this week, everyone who lives in this town will be killed in this tornado - and you will only have your selfie to blame!"

At that moment, the pumpkin's sinister vocals suddenly changed. Max's blood was instantly turned into ice at the sound of his new voice. She had no trouble recognising the jack-o-lantern's vocals, which had haunted her for some time...

It was none other than the dark, gloating voice of Mark Jefferson.

"But no matter! You and Chloe will both be dead soon! I'll drag you both right down under - to join Rachel Amber!"

As the voice of her malicious former photography teacher blared out wickedly, Max suddenly felt the ground open up beneath her. Flames blazed out heatedly from the fiery depths far below. Before the young girl could do anything to save herself, the young girl felt she felt herself being dragged down into the deep, flaming pit, a terrified scream escaping her that was joined by the booming, manic laughter of Jefferson.

"_Nooooo!_" _Heeeeelllllp!_" Max screamed as she fell. "_Chlooooooooooeeeeeeeeee!_"

"_ROAR!_"

"_Arrrggghhh!_"

Max squealed with fright as she sat up instantly from the ground. A hideous looking face with blue hair on top had abruptly appeared right in front of her. It had only added to the nightmare the brunette was in – until the figure it belonged to pulled it off to reveal her real face.

"Ha! Scared ya!" Chloe grinned triumphantly as she held up the zombie mask she had just been wearing to startle her friend. "Mom said it's about time I went as something other than a punk for Halloween! I told her all the costumes in the store were lame – until she surprised me with this cool thing! I'm hella gonna scare so many people wearing this!"

Max stared, gazing up into the face of her best friend who was holding the mask. Her eyes were wide as she observed Chloe, wanting to ensure she was truly alive and had not been turned into an undead creature. Still a little shaken, she gazed all around the garden.

The storm had stopped as unexpectedly as it had started minutes ago. Everything was as peaceful and quiet as it had been before it had arrived. It was once again a quiet, autumn evening in Chloe's back yard. There was no trace in Arcadia of any rain, wind, thunder – or a tornado.

"Max?" Chloe's cheeky grin faded, blinking as she realised something was wrong with her best friend from how quiet she was being. "You okay?"

The teenage photographer gazed up at the punk, relieved that her horrible vision was over as she nodded slowly. "Yeah…I'm fine…"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive…" Max looked away, in no mood for telling the blue-haired girl she had just been subjected to another vision of the town being destroyed in a tornado. "I'm okay, Chloe…"

"Oh, well in that case, perhaps you can now hang up Punkin! I left you to put him up when I went to get my mask – and here you two are, lounging around on the ground!"

As Max turned back towards Chloe, she felt the blue-haired girl place the pumpkin into her arms. She stared down at it with wide eyes, her eyes filling with terror.

There in her arms, gazing up at her with its sinister looking grin, was the squash plant that had been talking to her in her vision a moment ago. It had said such terrifying, threatening things to her in the voice of her monstrous former teacher…

…yet here it was now, silent and completely lifeless. It was no threat to the time-tripping youth at all.

"C'mon, Max! Get my baby up on the fence!" Chloe swung around and marched towards the house again to go back inside. "And make sure you put him where his loving mommy can see him!"

Max glanced up to watch Chloe enter the house through the sliding doors before facing the pumpkin once again. A frown crossed her face as she observed it with disgust. After just being haunted by it in her nightmare, she did not have the same liking for it as when she and her best friend had just carved it. Behind the devilish grin they had given it, she almost thought she could see Jefferson sneering at her.

That was enough for her.

Without any regret, Max released the punk pumpkin from her arms, letting it fall to the ground, where it smashed into pieces. Bits of the plant and the accessories Chloe applied to it spread out over the ground. The girl who had been traumatised by it in her nightmare stomped on it with her shoes several times, wanting to make sure it was completely destroyed, unable to show its sinister face.

"I'm sorry, Chloe…" Max murmured, "…but your baby has been a bad boy."

The young time-traveller dove her heels into the pumpkin until it was now laying in a heap in several pieces. Once satisfied, she began to make her way towards the house to join Chloe, leaving the jack-o-lantern they had created together completely broken up. She felt much better after what she had just done to it…

…until a voice unexpectedly rang out eerily inside her head, covered her in goosebumps with a chill.

"_This action will have consequences…_"

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**The end.**


End file.
